The Clemson Tigers are pursuing a potential replacement for Peter Woods in the transfer portal.
The Clemson Tigers will be losing a bunch of key players to the NFL Draft this spring, and one of the most notable departures will be defensive tackle Peter Woods.
A potential top-five pick, Woods has been a lynchpin in Clemson's defense and has star potential on the professional level, so he will be difficult to replace.
Not only that, but fellow defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart has also declared for the draft, so the Tigers are very thin on their interior right now.
Clemson is attempting to address that via the transfer portal and is pursuing a visit with former Oklahoma Sooners defensive tackle Markus Strong.
Strong already has a visit with Arkansas planned and is "eyeing" trips to both Clemson and Oklahoma State, so we'll see if Dabo Swinney is able to land the upcoming redshirt junior.
Strong arrived at Oklahoma in 2023 and did not receive much playing time in three years with the Sooners, accumulating 10 tackles, four tackles for loss and three sacks in 14 games.
A former three-star recruit, the 6-foot-3, 297-pound Strong could ultimately compete for a starting job on the Tigers' defensive line should Dabo Swinney land him.
Clemson is also losing edge rusher T.J. Parker and cornerback Avieon Terrell to the NFL Draft, so Swinney's defense is in rough shape right now.
The Tigers entered the 2025 college football season with national championship hopes, but got off to a dreadful 1-3 start and finished just 7-6 on the year, marking their worst record since Swinney's second campaign with the program back in 2010.
Clemson capped off its season with an embarrassing 22-10 loss to Penn State in the Pinstripe Bowl, which had many questioning Swinney's job security with the school.
Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney. Credit: Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK.Swinney does not appear to be on the hot seat at the moment, but there is no question he will have to make some significant tweaks to his team-building strategy in order to stick around long term.
For example, Swinney had largely refused to utilize the transfer portal in the past, and his archaic recruiting methods have hurt the Tigers on more than one occasion in recent years.
Clemson made four trips to the National Championship Game between 2015 and 2019, capturing a pair of titles along the way.
We'll see if Swinney can lead the Tigers back to prominence.